The immunity and mandate committee of the lower house has recommended
stripping ANO leader Andrej Babiš and his right-hand man, deputy chair
Jaroslav Faltýnek of their immunity to release them for criminal
prosecution. If the assembly acts on this recommendation, the man widely
expected to win October’s general elections will face charges of subsidy
fraud and harming the EU’s financial interests.

Andrej Babiš, Jaroslav Faltýnek, photo: CTK
The investigation into the so-called Stork’s Nest affair has been
underway for months and just when it seemed that Andrej Babiš would
weather this scandal as he has weathered all others without losing public
support, the clouds gathered around the successful
billionaire-turned-politician.

Just two months ahead of the elections the police said they had evidence
that Babis had orchestrated a plan to reach a 50 million crown EU subsidy
which should technically have been out of his reach – and requested the
lower house to release him for prosecution.

On Wednesday the immunity committee recommended that he and ANO deputy
Jaroslav Faltýnek be stripped of their immunity. A defiant Andrej Babiš
faced the press with accusations of slander, saying it was a police
provocation, made to order to discredit him ahead of October’s general
elections.

“This affair is an attempt to influence the outcome of the parliamentary
elections. It is an attempt to undermine our position and the public
support we enjoy. The aim is for us to take a beating in the elections and
for the traditional parties to set up a government without us.”

Stork’s Nest, photo: Filip Jandourek
The case of the Stork’s Nest farm subsidy has been filling the papers
for months, not just in the Czech Republic since the European Anti-Fraud
Office is conducting an investigation into the matter as well. The farm
which belonged to Babiš's Agrofert Holding was transferred to bearer
shares in order to gain anonymity and under the guise of a small firm to
reach a 50-million-crown EU subsidy, which a firm of the size of Agrofert
Holding could never have hoped to get. It retained this status for a few
years, and later re-joined Babiš's conglomerate.

Billionaire-businessman Babiš who in February transferred his
multi-billion crown conglomerate, including some media outlets, to trust
funds in order to comply with an amended conflict of interest law, claims
he is innocent of any wrongdoing and merely worked within the bounderies of
the law to his firm’s advantage. He and members of his ANO party say that
the timing of the police request just ahead of the parliamentary elections
is extremely suspicious.

His critics counter that the police had little choice but to act in view
of the fact that the 10 year statute of limitations on the suspected crime
will soon expire and waiting until after the elections, when Babiš could
be prime minister, would destabilize the country even more.

The head of the mandate and immunity committee in Parliament Miroslava
Němcová told reporters she was convinced this was not a police
provocation.

The final decision on whether the two deputies will be released for
prosecution will be made next week at a session of the lower house. Babiš
says he expects to face charges and will fight to clear his name.

However since the likelihood that this could happen before the elections
is small, his many supporters will have to make up their minds whether to
trust him blindly as they have on many previous occasions. For his part
Andrej Babiš will do everything in his power to convince them he is the
victim of an orchestrated political campaign organized by “the
establishment”.